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Secret Success Stories: Alyson Roy: AMP3 PR

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3 months ago

Welcome back to Secret Success Stories. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit down with my friend Aly who runs her own boutique PR agency- Amp 3 PR. She told me everything about what it's like to be running her own business to the skills she looks for when hiring interns. Keep reading to find out more.

1. Can you describe and tell me about AMP3 PR and it’s background? What inspired you to start this business?

AMP3 PR is a boutique PR agency based in NYC, specializing in Lifestyle and Fashion PR. I was inspired to start this business because of my love for storytelling. I felt there was a lot of fluff in the PR world and wanted to create a business where I not only promised things, but I also made them happen.

2. As the Founder of AMP3 PR, how would you describe your job description?

I definitely wear a lot of hats. I oversee the vision for our brand and all of our client accounts. My job ranges from doing media outreach to managing digital, social media and event production. On any given day, I can be found working on pitches, sitting in on new business meetings, visiting with clients, and handling interviews with job candidates and interns. I also really love mentoring and empowering my staff to rise up in their careers, by giving them new responsibilities and having them take the lead on new projects.

3. Can you take us through a typical day in your life?

The very first thing I do every morning is check my email to make sure there is nothing urgent from our clients or the press. Assuming there are no fires to put out or opportunities to jump on, that’s when I start my morning routine of coffee and mapping out my goals for the day before heading into the office. At work, we usually have a few meetings lined up per day with clients, new business, desk sides with editors or stylists. Otherwise, I spend the majority of my day on writing, research and editorial outreach. We are always pitching, pitching, pitching!

4. Did you have any internships while you were in college? If so, what was the best thing you ever learned at your internships.

That’s actually how I met Lauren—at my first internship! I really wanted to work in entertainment PR, and landed an internship at Arista Records. It was amazing because it was my first summer in NYC. I’m from Canada so it was a great experience to stay at NYU summer housing; it felt like I was abroad! I was so inspired by all the people I met that summer and their career pursuits, and it showed me how much possibility was out there.

At my internship, I learned the importance of being curious and asking questions. It was an incredible opportunity to get an eye for what I wanted to do (and didn’t want to do). I remember our supervisor would come over and tell us that the big boss was willing to take questions from the interns for 15 minutes…”Now.” This happened sporadically without any prior warning so being prepared to seize the opportunity was something that I really learned that summer and that definitely still helps me in my career now.

5. How did you get from college to where you are today?

I’m still surprised that I went into business for myself. Back in university, I remember a professor asked people to raise their hand if they wanted to run a small business and I specifically remember NOT raising my hand. Back then, I really wanted to work for a big company. Through my experiences though, I learned that what I really wanted was to be involved with the client, and very hands on in the creative process, so I ultimately took a leap of faith to go out on my own and take on my own clients. Before I knew it, we had more business than I could handle and we needed to staff up, and then the agency grew organically from there.

6. If someone wants to intern for your company what qualities and skills are you looking for?

We definitely look for an intern who is inquisitive; someone who is curious and truly wants to understand “why” we do the work we do. When an intern takes an interest in why they’re doing a small research project (for example)—the big picture—they show they understand our work from a bird’s eye view.

We also look for interns that take initiative and jump in on our brainstorms. We welcome our interns to be a part of our creative process; their fresh perspectives can be really helpful and eye-opening, so being outgoing is important.

It’s typically easy to tell if an intern will be a fit at our company by how they interview and what they’ve got on their resume. I’m always impressed when a candidate has well thought out questions for me during an interview.

8. What is the hardest thing and best thing about your job?

Hardest: The hardest part is that nothing is ever guaranteed in PR. Unlike advertising or marketing, everything is earned. Earned media, organic media. All the responsibility is on us as publicists to get a client that coverage. It can be stressful because you can never tell the client exactly what the results of a campaign will be. The work involves a lot of late nights, nail biting and stressful moments because any media opportunity can get cut at the last minute. There is a lot of nerve wracking moments leading up to locking in the results.

Best Part: The absolute best part is that everything you accomplish for a client is earned based on your direct efforts. There are a lot of highs and lows but it’s really rewarding when you look at a magazine or watch a TV segment and you see your client featured. To have their story told and shared with the world because of your work is an amazing feeling.